This invention, Infections/Medical Waste Containment Carrier, provides a self-contained atmosphere for the containment of two (2) to four (4) pounds of infections/medical waste generated by a medical facility (hospital, laboratory, blood bank, clinic, practicing physician or dentist, ambulatory surgery center, nursing home and/or home care center and medical research facility). According to an article published in the Sept. 22/29, 1989, Vol. 262, No. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled "Management of Infectious Waste by U.S. Hospitals", approximately 23.9 million pounds of infectious waste is generated by hospitals each day in some 13,600 hospitals (public and private) in the United States. The estimate for infectious/medical waste generated by medical laboratories (4,916); blood banks (4,189); nursing and personal care facilities (889); skilled nursing care facilities (6,921); nursing and personal care facilities, NEC. (6,522); offices of health practitioners (11,767); outpatient facilities (9,344); physician's offices (172,857); and dentists offices (94,994) is approximately 18.7 million pounds per day. The total infectious/medical waste generated per day in 1987 was 42.6 million pounds.
The term medical facility waste, medical waste and infectious waste are often used inappropriately as synonymons. The term medical facility waste refers to all solid waste (biologic or nonbiologic) that is discarded and not intended for further use (e.g., administrative waste, dietary waste and non-toxic medical waste); medical waste refers to toxic materials generated as a result of patient diagnosis, treatment or imunization (e.g., soiled dressing and intravenous tubing); and infectious waste refers to that portion of medical waste that could transmit an infectious disease (e.g., microbiological waste and "sharps").
Currently, the recommended procedure for the collection, containment and transport of infectious/medical waste is either one of three methods:
a. To utilize a 3 mil thick (or less thick) red opaque printed (wording and symbol) polyethylene plastic bag in which the infectious/medical waste is placed. The top of the bag is then twisted and tied in an overhand knot. The bag, once tied, containing between two (2) and four (4) pounds of infectious/medical waste is then placed in a corrugated box (generally 18".times.18".times.24") along with one to three other bags of infectious/medical waste. The box is sealed with tape and is labeled with wording and symbols. It is stored in a cool or refrigerated area, picked-up and transported to an incinerator. PA0 b. To utilize a 1.5 mil thick red printed polyethylene plastic bag (printed as in "a" above) in which the two (2) to four (4) pounds of infectious/medical waste is placed. The bag is tied in an overhand knot as in "a" above. The bag is then inserted into another 1.5 mil thick red printed polyethylene bag and tied as in "a" above. The double bags are then placed in a corrugated box with one to three double bagged units and the procedure as in "a" above is then followed. PA0 c. To utilize a 3 mil thick orange opaque printed (wording and symbol) polypropylene plastic bag, which is autoclavable, to contain and transport two (2) to four (4) pounds of infectious/medical waste. The bag containing the waste is tied off with a standard twist tie and then autoclaved, then moved to an incinerator. PA0 1. "We can never find a tie to close the bag." PA0 2. "Nobody tells us how to close the bag. Certainly, what's in an infectious waste bag is a lot different than what's in a "Hefty" garbage bag." PA0 3. "The bags we get don't have seals that don't break. We get four or five of these spills a week. It just means more labor costs to get the mess cleaned up. Blood stains are real bad." PA0 4. "Bags we use ain't so you can't see through them. Its not very nice to see blood and guts. The bag should be so you can't see through it." PA0 5. "It's stupid to put a bag in a bag then both bags in a box. That doesn't make good sense. We've got a little box that we place needles and broken glass in so it can go in a bag without making a hole in the bag. These things never get in a bag. Why doesn't somebody come up with one bag that'll do the job." PA0 6. "Bags are too thin. The seal doesn't hold. We are really scared of getting some bug 'cause they break so often." PA0 7. "Even with two bags, they still leak blood." PA0 8. "You don't have to clean up old blood when one of those red bags pop-open. I do!" PA0 9. "We pay about 40 cents for a bag and about $1.25 for the box. When you have to use two bags and a box, with sharps in another container, something needs to be done. $2.05 for a way to handle less than two pounds of infectious waste is too high. Plus, clean-up cost when the bag breaks." PA0 10. "When the seal goes, the blood and mess goes everywhere." PA0 11. "There's no way! Two bags and a box aren't the answer." PA0 12. "What we need is a bag. A simple bag that will do the trick."
There are problems, primarily with "a" and "b" procedures described above, that are identified below. These problems are based on interviews with personnel handling infectious/medical waste in 82 hospitals and 26 other medical facilities in the United States:
Thus, based on these comments which represent only a small but majority feeling of some 296 received in talking with people in 106 medical facilities, the Infectious/Medical Waste Containment Carrier has been developed.